With a focus on attracting more foreign investments to balance the growth of residential and non-residential developments in the country, this year's edition of Next Move opens today in Cairo. The largest real estate investment and finance exhibition in Egypt will take place from April 28 to May 1 at the Cairo International Convention and Exhibition Center, with the country's top developers exhibiting their latest projects. With its population growing at 1.9 percent a year, Egypt is set to expand local housing construction even further to spur residential developments. According to a statement from ACG-ITF, one of the main organizers of Next Move, Egypt's rapidly growing building and construction sector, both residential and non-residential, is expected to attract investments of around $7.3 billion by 2015. The non-residential construction sector will continue to dominate the industry and comprise up to $6.7 billion, and residential projects will account for only $606 million by 2015, the statement read. “For the past two decades Egypt's construction sector has been constantly expanding to support domestic housing, infrastructure and industrial development. Even during the recession, construction activities continued to gather pace, and as the world prepares for recovery more foreign companies and investors have been expressing interest in exploring Egypt's robust construction market,” said Ahmed Ghozzi, chairman of ACG-ITF. Development in the sector continues to add value to related industries, spilling over into cement, steel, furniture and electricity, thus emerged as one of the country's top revenue generators. According to Khaled Khalil, real estate analyst at investment bank Beltone Financial, the $7.3 billion in investment in the sector could be achieved by 2015, if the government continues its initiatives to enhance housing finance and higher disposable incomes. “It is possible since the effects of the financial crisis will have passed and growth in the sector will be encouraged by making real estate more feasible and accessible to a greater number of people,” Khalil said. The sector is also one of the main job creators as construction accounts for around 8 percent of the total employment in Egypt, with about 100 different industries linked to the sector. The local construction workforce of around 1.2 million is currently the largest in the Middle East. Next Move's inaugural run in 2008 featured Egyptian projects collectively valued at more than $25 billion and last year's edition welcomed 40 exhibitors and 20,000 visitors to 16,000 square meters of exhibition space. The 2010 show will have a larger 25,000 square meters area and will once again be jointly organized by ACG-ITF, the largest exhibition organizer in Egypt, and Lead Marketing Solutions, a project marketing company. Developers participating in the conference include, SODIC, Al-Ahly, Orascom Development, Amer Group, Emaar Misr, Palm Hills Development, and many others. According to Khalil, “the conference will be a great opportunity for developers to attract real estate consumers and create awareness about what is available in the market.” A forum titled, “Connecting Demand with Supply: Suppliers and buyers on the same wavelength,” will be organized on the sidelines of the conference. Speakers will include real estate experts, chairmen and CEOs of the prominent developers; and will focus on how suppliers in the real estate market are adapting their offers in meeting needs in the residential, commercial and administrative sectors. The forum will provide an opportunity for developers, financiers and service organizations to discuss the newly developed concepts of affordable housing, the evolution of the different financing opportunities and the initiation of smart homes.
